The present invention relates to heat transfer decorators, and more particularly to bottle cooling devices in heat transfer decorators.
One commonly employed decorating technique for bottles and the like involves pressing a heated label against an article to be labelled, typically a bottle of glass, plastic or other material. Typical U.S. patents illustrating this process include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,064,714; 3,208,897; 3,231,448; 3,616,015; and 3,922,435. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,015, it is often desirable in such decoration to increase the smoothness and gloss of the image after transfer by exposing it to a jet of hot gas or other heating means in order to remelt the transferred label. In order to achieve high production speeds, it is desirable to provide means for cooling the heated bottles to permit handling for further processing without damage to the transfer image. Such bottle cooling apparatus is preferably of an inexpensive construction, and should cool the bottles efficiently. It is particularly desirable to provide in-line bottle cooling apparatus which does not interrupt bottle transport.